Okay, let's
put the cards on the table... This band consists of four brilliant
musicians, who have reached a certain quality level on their own in the
past, who play very well together, or should I rather say - play again
very well together, and who principally still live on one hit single.
But that doesn't seem to interest them very much right now, as the main
focus is set on the fun of playing with each other.
The first tour after their reunion in 2009 went, - how shall I describe
it...? brilliant with sold out venues worldwide. Yes of course,
the old fans from back then had been curious whether this group still
owns this aura and skills after such a long time of seperation.
Mr.Big are still Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheehan, Eric Martin and Pat Torpey.
Wherey I should maybe mention that within the first life of the band
there had been a change of guitarists at some point. And Paul Gilbert
was replaced by Ritchie Kotzen. Meanwhile Mr. Kotzen goes for a solo
carriere only and our - To Be With You - Heroes are back again in the
original line up for about 3 years now.
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And also this time, they
have landed in Munich here. But tonight it's not a sold out Tonhalle
like last time, but an only half filled Theaterfabrik, which means 2.000
people less then at the reuinon show. The end result are aprox. 400 here,
half of them females.
I believe, they still didn't dig, that Mr.Big ain't just good looking
guys, who melt the hearts of all rocker brides with some soft melodic
rock. As we say so: a ballad doesn't make a single summer - which leads
us again to - 'To Be With You'. But as soon as the band goes on stage,
it's pretty clear, that this a filigran rockband with a clever strategy
put into their musical corsett. And real music lovers know this very
well. The rest is just waiting for songs such as: ‚Addicted To That Rush’,
‚Green Tinted Sixties Mind’, ‚Just Take My Heart’ ‚Daddy,
Brother, Lover, Daddy, Little Boy’ and the already several times
mentioned - 'To Be With You'
By the way, support comes from Andy Brings with a pure acoustic set. But
I can't tell you much about that, thanks to Erics entertaining anecdotes
about how to break me bones on a dancefloor in Budapest....- in front of
the backstage door. About 10 minutes pre showtime of the headliner set,
our boy gets himself onto his place to fullfill his job as frontbird of
Mr.Big , including his plaster arm.
Well, there is one thing
getting very soon noticable and proves once more: no matter how
brilliant an artist acts up there on stage. But if the generell sound
conditions are crap, you can also put the rest into the dustbin. Sad but
true. Although musically almost perfect, all this virtuosity and
perfection ends up in an indefinate soundmix. And also my desperate
search for a better position within the club doesn't help. What a pity...
because if you listen very carefuly, you can at least guess the
brilliance of a Billy Sheehan, as he belongs surely to the best bassists
of his kind, and he's so much better than just an ordinary Rock'n'Roll
musician. Same for Paul Gilbert, who still wears his headphones on stage
- half deaf, and seems almost like an alien.- Hmmm.... hope he doesn't
end up like Beethoven.. but mind me - that genius composed his best
music actually when he was completely deaf. So there's still hope, ain't
it....?!
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But the 400 fans of soapy
Melodic Rock Ballads here do hail the band and their hitsingles, most of
all.... yes of course - 'To Be With You'.
Let's put it that
way... if the sound condition would have been great, then this here
would have been a solid good Rock event with a lot nostalgic moments,
including several brilliant solos. But in fact this here leaves a rather
mixed feeling. And the sound engineer is definately ready for a death
penalty. He just has to be found. In the end the fans still luv 'em. And
though nobody bothered about him pre show in front of the doors, now
afterwards Mr.Martin can't help himself and is drowning within all the
signing and photo requests.
Well, it seems, there are still some faithful fans left. And I assume
Mr.Big will be back again sooner or later. Time will tell....http://www.mrbigsite.com/
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